Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Purpose:

To develop an index of participation in workplace health and well-being programs and assess its relationship with health risk status.

Design:

Study design comprised a retrospective longitudinal analysis of employee health risk assessment (HRA) and program participation data.

Setting:

Data from 6 companies that implemented health and well-being programs from 2014 to 2016.

Participants:

Employee participants (n = 95 318) from 6 companies who completed an HRA in 2014 to 2016. After matching those who completed the HRA in all 3 years, the longitudinal file included 38 789 respondents.

Measures:

Participation indicators were created for 9 different program components. The sum of these 9 components established the total participation index.

Analysis:

Descriptive and correlation analyses were conducted on all participation measures. Repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to assess the impact of participation level on health risk over time.

Results:

Higher levels of participation were associated with a greater reduction in risks, with each participation dose yielding a reduction of 0.038 risks (P < .001).

Conclusion:

Results suggest that employees who participate more in workplace health and well-being programs experience more health risk improvement. The study also supports a more granular definition of participation based on the number of interactions and type of program.

Keywords

employee wellness participation workplace specific settings research methods wellness population health interventions behavior change workplace setting

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Goetzel

Shechter

Ozminkowski

Marmet

Tabrizi

Roemer

. Promising practices in employer health and productivity management efforts: findings from a benchmarking study. J Occup Environ Med. 2007;49(2):111–130.

Serxner

Anderson

Gold

. Building program participation: strategies for recruitment and retention in worksite health promotion programs. Am J Health Promot. 2004;18(4):1–6, iii.

Grossmeier

Terry

Cipriotti

Burtaine

. Best practices in evaluating worksite health promotion programs. Am J Health Promot. 2010;24(3):TAHP1–TAHP9, iii.

Program Measurement and Evaluation Guide. Core metrics for employee health management. 2015; 39–41. http://hero-health.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/HERO-PHA-Metrics-Guide-FINAL.pdf. Accessed June 22, 2018.

Serxner

Gold

Meraz

Gray

. Do Employee health management programs work? Am J Health Promot. 2009;23(4):1–12.

Mitchell

Ozminkowski

Hartley

. The association between health program participation and employee retention. J Occup Environ Med. 2016;58(9):896–901.

Burton

Chen

Schultz

Edington

. Reduction in health risks and disparities with participation in an employer-sponsored health promotion program. J Occup Environ Med. 2013;55(8):873–878.

Grossmeier

Seaverson

Mangen

et al. Impact of a comprehensive population health management program on health care costs. J Occup Environ Med. 2013;55(6):634–643.

Serxner

Gold

Grossmeier

Anderson

. The relationship between health promotion program participation and medical costs: a dose response. J Occup Environ Med. 2003;45(11):1196–1200.

10.

Embracing a Broader Definition of Well-Being . Washington, DC: National Business Group on Health and Fidelity Investments; 2017.

11.

Anderson

Brink

Courtney

. Health Risks and their Impact on Medical Costs, Research Report for the Chrysler Corporation and the International UAW Union. Milwaukee, WI: Milliman & Robertson, Inc.; 1995.

12.

Brink

. Health Risks and Behavior: The Impact on Medical Costs. Milwaukee, WI: Milliman & Robertson, Inc.; 1987.

13.

Goetzel

Anderson

Whitmer

Ozminkowski

Dunn

Wasserman

. The relationship between modifiable health risks and health care expenditures: an analysis of the multi-employer HERO health risk and cost database. J Occup Environ Med. 1998;40(10):843–854.

14.

Smith

McKinlay

Thorington

. The validity of health risk appraisal instruments for assessing coronary heart disease risk. Am J Public Health. 1987;77(4):419–424.

15.

Terry

Seaverson

Staufacker

Gingerich

. A comparison of the effectiveness of a telephone coaching program and a mail-based program. Health Educ Beh. 2010;37(6):895–912.

16.

Behling

Kelly

Ruppert

et al. Biometric Health Screening for Employers Consensus Statement of the Health Enhancement Research Organization, American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, and Care Continuum Alliance. J Occup Environ Med. 2013;55(10):1244–1251.

17.

Soler

Leeks

Razi

et al. A systematic review of selected interventions for worksite health promotion: the assessment of health risks with feedback. Am J Prev Med. 2010;38(2):S237–S262.

18.

Cronbach

Gleser

Nanda

Rajaratnam

. The Dependability of Behavioral Measurements: Theory of Generalizability for Scores and Profiles. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons; 1972.

19.

Nunnally

. Psychometric Theory. New York, NY: McGraw Hill; 1967.

20.

Nunnally

Bernstein

. Psychometric Theory. 3rd ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 1994.

Measuring Participation in Employer-Sponsored Health and Well-Being Programs: A Participation Index and Its Association With Health Risk Change

Abstract

Purpose:

Design:

Setting:

Participants:

Measures:

Analysis:

Results:

Conclusion:

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References